


The Taking of Two Kittens

by sadkittiehours



Series: Brendon the Cat That Turned Human verse [5]
Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 03:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30082446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadkittiehours/pseuds/sadkittiehours
Summary: William wakes up and Siska is gone. It’s not completely unusual—Siska doesn’t always like being in the sink with William when William is asleep and Siska isn’t. Usually, he goes down to the basement to play with Nate, who’s not allowed to leave Gabe's side without permission.Stretching, William jumps down off the counter and pads towards the basement door, which has a new cat door now that Victoria has finally moved in with Miss Greta. Victoria’s cats tend to keep to the basement and in the crawlspaces, for some reason, while the rest of William’s housemates keep to the top floors.
Relationships: Victoria Asher/Greta Salpeter, William Beckett/Gabe Saporta, William Beckett/Travis McCoy/Gabe Saporta
Series: Brendon the Cat That Turned Human verse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213340
Kudos: 1





	The Taking of Two Kittens

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was taken off the [ Big God Damn Masterlist](https://fobfics.tumblr.com/post/34177428707/okubyokitsunes-big-goddamn-masterlistpdf/) you can use that link to download the pdf of almost 500 pages of bandom fic.

William wakes up and Siska is gone. It’s not completely unusual—Siska doesn’t always like being in the sink with William when William is asleep and Siska isn’t. Usually, he goes down to the basement to play with Nate, who’s not allowed to leave Gabe's side without permission.

Stretching, William jumps down off the counter and pads towards the basement door, which has a new cat door now that Victoria has finally moved in with Miss Greta. Victoria’s cats tend to keep to the basement and in the crawlspaces, for some reason, while the rest of William’s housemates keep to the top floors.

As soon as William’s padded down the stairs, he looks around. Alex and Ryland are curled up in a ball in front of the radiator and Gabe is on the purple easy chair Miss Greta had left down there. He doesn’t see Nate or Siska anywhere.

“Gabe,” he says, making his way to the chair. He puts his front paws on the cushion and nudged the tabby with his nose. “Gabe, wake up.”

“Whuzzat?” Gabe asks, opening one eye and staring blearily at William. 

William lets Gabe stretch his legs out before asking, “Where are the kittens?” Blinking, Gabe looks behind him. “Not here,” he says slowly, still nap-stupid.

“Yes,” William says slowly. “I know. Which is why I’m asking you.” William doesn’t have any problem with Gabe anymore—the two households had been hesitant to mesh at first, but William and Gabe had connected over their mutual kittens a few weeks in—but they’re still two very different cats.

“Where are they?” Gabe asks, sitting up and looking around, more alert now.

“Not upstairs,” William says, finally feeling a little bit of worry set in. “Do you think Miss Greta or Victoria let them outside?” William asks in a small voice, ears going flat to his skull. Outside is a dangerous place for kittens, he knows.

Gabe shakes his head and jumps off of the chair, then starts leaping up the stairs two at a time. William bounds after him and they search the house completely for their kittens. “They wouldn’t do that,” Gabe says as they search the spare bedroom that Nate and Siska sometimes played in.

“Do you smell that?” William asks, sniffing around the window. Gabe moves closer to him and leans in to smell.

“It smells like a human male,” he says finally. “And I think I can smell Nate and Siska on him!”

William bites back a gasp. “Gabe!” He says. “You know what this means, right?” He asks, voice getting lower. 

“No?” Gabe asks, sitting on his haunches and looking at William, head tilted to the side.

Lowering his voice even more to a whisper, William says, “They have been catnapped.”

Gabe makes a harsh noise. “No!”

“Yes,” William hisses, fur raising along his back.

Gabe’s back arches. “How do you figure?” he asks, bristling.

“It’s just like that movie,” William says, heading for the bedroom door, Gabe hot on his heels. “The one with the singing cats? Greta brought Brendon over to watch it the other day.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” Gabe says, nodding. “So what are we going to do about it?” he asks when they stop in front of the door.

William yowls once, loudly. “We’re going to go after them, of course,” he says, then yowls again. Gabe catches onto his plan and starts to yowl loudly, scratching at the door as well.

There’s a shuffling from behind them and a sleepy voice that says, “Okay, guys, just a second.”   
Gabe looks up and yowls loudly at Greta. She’s wearing her nightgown and the ridiculous bunny slippers that Nate likes to sleep in and that just makes Gabe yowl more. “Out,” he whines,   
rubbing up against her legs.

“I know, I know,” Greta says, exasperated. “Vicky will let you back in when she gets up, okay?” she adds, rubbing her hand down Gabe’s back. She opens the door and they bound out and down the stairs.

“What now?” Gabe asks as soon as Greta’s shut the door.   
William sniffs at the ground, tail high in the air and twitching. “We’ll have to follow this human   
male’s scent and find them.”

“Maybe we should ask Brendon? His mate has a car and cars can go farther than we can,” Gabe says, nose pressed to the ground.

“No, Brendon’s so absent-minded,” William dismisses, shaking his whole body. “The catnapper went this way,” he says, moving forward and looking around, as if the man was still hanging around, kittens in hand. 

Gabe rubs himself against William when he catches up. “Don’t worry,” he says. “We’ll find them. We’ll get them back.”

William nods dejectedly and they set out.

\---

After a few hours of walking, William and Gabe end up in the middle of the city. Gabe has been there before, but William hasn’t, and he doesn’t recognize any of the smells or sounds. It’s all confusing but Gabe seems confident.

“Victoria used to live around here,” Gabe says, tail bobbing in the air, nose high. “Shit, I haven’t been around here in months.”

William shoots him a look. “Do you smell him at all? I can’t distinguish it under everything else.”

“I...A little bit?” Gabe says, stopping to sniff the air. “It’s hard, though, because so many   
humans have walked on the scent that it’s all muffled.”

“What’re you lookin’ for?” someone asks and William jumps a little. He didn’t know there was anyone near.

“What?” he asks, spinning around. There’s a tiger striped tom sitting on a trash can, looking down at them lazily.

The tom yawns and flashes his teeth. “You’re lookin’ for someone specific? If they passed by here, I’da seen ‘em,” he says easily, hopping down off the lid and slinking towards them. Gabe’s ears lie flat on his skull when the tom sniffs around William. “You’re not from around here, are you?” he asks, looking from William to Gabe.

Gabe’s tail puffs out. “I am, but he’s from the ‘burbs,” he says haughtily.

The tom purrs lazily at him. “I’m Travis,” he says, rubbing his tail against William’s leg. Gabe bristles.

“William,” William says, eyes going to half-mast. “That’s Gabe. We live together.”

“Really?” Travis asks, looking at Gabe again. “Well, can I help you? You two look like you’re lookin’ for somethin’ specific.”

William shares a pointed look with Gabe. “Well, more like someone,” William says slowly.

Travis sits down and starts to lick his paw. “Oh yeah?” he asks between licks. “Who?”

“A man,” Gabe says, looking away as if he’s bored. “He has two kittens with him. Both tortoise shells.” 

“Siska’s not a tortoise shell,” William mutters. “He looks more like me.” He fluffs out his tail and wiggles. The reason he took so much interest in Siska so quickly was because of their similar coat patterns.

“Must be a pretty kitty, then,” Travis purrs, standing back up. “Yeah, I’ve seen them. They were around here this morning.”

William and Gabe both perk up. “Really? You’ve really seen them?” William asks, tail twitching anxiously.

“Sure have,” Travis says lazily. “I can help you find them, if you want.”

Gabe moves to William’s side and presses his head under William’s chin. “Do you think that’s a good decision? Should we trust him?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” William asks, slanting a glance at Travis. Travis licks his tail. “He seems nice…” 

“He’s a city cat,” Gabe says. “You’ve never dealt with city cats before.”

William purrs and rubs his cheek against Gabe’s. “I’ve dealt with you, haven’t I?”

“Ass,” Gabe says affectionately. “Okay.”

William turns to Travis and says, “We’d love the help.”

\---

Travis is a lot better than Gabe at tracking.

“It’s because I’ve lived out on these streets my whole life,” he says, waving his tail close to the ground. “I know my way around. Plus,” he adds, looking back at William and Gabe, “that guy definitely smelled strange. Not like any human I’ve ever smelled, so it’s easier to pick him out.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” William asks, looking back at Gabe who’s taken rear.

“I dunno,” Travis says. “He was just different.”

Gabe makes an unhappy noise and flattens himself closer to the ground. “Can we stop for food soon? We didn’t even get to have breakfast.”

“Gabe,” William scolds. “This is very important. It’s Nate and Siska. We have to find them. What if this man is using them for nefarious purposes? What if this is like that Dalmatians movie we watched? With that lady who made coats out of animals!”

Scoffing, Gabe says, “Greta needs to stop letting you watch movies,” he says, tail twitching. “It just puts ideas in your head.”

William glares. “Shut up, it’s a valid theory. Someone took them, okay? And we need to get them back.”

“I know,” Gabe says. “But I’m hungry and we haven’t eaten all day and how can we be on our best look-out without having food in our bellies?”

Travis nods. “He’s right. If you’re hungry, you won’t be able to concentrate. Plus, what if we have to fight whoever stole them? You’ll need your energy for that.”

“I guess,” William mumbles, feeling his stomach rumble. He doesn’t want to eat—he’s still very anxious about Siska and Nate, even though they do have Travis with them now—but he knows that they’re right. “Where do we go to eat?” he asks. “It’s not like we can just ask Miss Greta to open a can of food for us, you know.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Travis says, leading them towards an alley. “Just follow my lead and you’ll be okay.”

William and Gabe follow him and William watches, dubiously, as Travis goes up to one of the doors and starts to meow pitifully. The door opens and a woman sticks her head out, smiling down at him.

“Well hey there, kitty. Are you hungry?” she asks.

Gabe nudges William and they both walk towards Travis. With their day of walking, they’re dirty and William’s fur is matted down, so they look more like Travis than pampered house cats. William mewls piteously and rubs against her leg, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Oh, you have friends!” she says, smiling down at William. “You’re such a cute kitty. Wait right here, sweetie.” She goes back into the building and William sits down on his haunches.

Good job, kitty,” Travis says, nudging William’s cheek. 

William hears Gabe huff. “Why thank you,” he says, preening.

“Here you go, kitties!” the woman says, coming back out. She has a bowl of milk in one hand and a plate of meat scraps in the other. She sets it down and Gabe and Travis immediately set upon it. William purrs up at her and she pats his head once before going back into the building.

“Come have some,” Gabe says while he chews. He’s never really had any manners and William sighs fondly.

“Yeah, okay.”

\---

“So, tell us about yourself,” William says as they’re waiting for the cars to stop passing by on the road to cross it.

Travis looks over and flicks his tail. “What’s to tell? I’m Travis, I’ve been on these streets as long as I’ve been alive.”

“Yeah, but have you ever gone on any adventures?” William asks, curious. “In the movies, the animals in the cities always go on adventures.”

Laughing, Travis shakes his head. “Real life isn’t like the movies, y’know? I live a normal life. I sleep in the alleys, I find food and I roam around during the day. I like taking naps and whenever kids pet me, it’s always nice.”

William frowns and bats at a piece of grass growing out of the crack in the sidewalk. “That doesn’t sound too exciting,” he says, finally.

“Like you have room to talk,” Gabe says, watching the people around them. “All you do all day is sleep and eat and carry Siska around.” 

“That’s exactly what you do!” William says hotly.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” Gabe murmurs.

Travis purrs happily. “There’s nothin’ wrong with relaxin’ all day. That’s what cats do, right?”

“The kittens and Brendon never do that,” William says. “They’re always running around and Brendon is a spaz.”

“Another housemate?” Travis asks.

William and Gabe share a look. “Not...exactly,” Gabe says slowly.

Tilting his head to the side, Travis asks, “What do you mean?”

"Brendon is... Special," William says after a moment's thought. "It's complicated."

"Nothing wrong complicated," Travis says, tail swishing in a lazy, inquisitive arch, encouraging William to go on.

"It's weird," William insists, "but Brendon's just weird in general. Though he's mellowed out since Ryan—that’s Brendon's mate—gave him kittens."

It's clear that Travis doesn't know how to take this. “That is weird,” he says finally, though probably not for the same reasons that William and Gabe think it's weird. Stretching, Travis follows the scent down the sidewalk. “I didn’t know cats could do that.”

“I think it was a special circumstance,” Gabe says.

“You sure know a bunch of interesting cats,” Travis comments neutrally. 

William nods solemnly.

“But what about you two? How did you become housemates?” he asks, curiosity in every line of his body.

“Our humans moved in together,” Gabe says proudly, tail held high. “I used to live in the city with my human Victoria and my housemates Ryland and Alex. Then, she moved to the ‘burbs next to Ross and got Nate, and we were living there for almost a year when Greta showed up.”

William takes up the vein. “Miss Greta used to live in a different state, but she got a job out here, so she moved all of us out here. There’s me, Bob, Darren, Chris, and Siska. She got Siska and Chris almost at the same time, so they’re both pretty young, but Chris likes to stick with Darren more often than with us.” He lowers his voice. “Chris has a lazy kitten eye and he’s sensitive and gets embarrassed about it. But Darren is a nice cat and never mentions it, so Chris spends his time exploring with him.”

“Ross introduced our humans,” Gabe continues, looking at William fondly. “He said that they would be perfect for each other because they were both crazy cat ladies. Well, they ended up getting along and then Victoria asked Greta out and Victoria moved into Greta’s house a year   
later. It’s a lot bigger, so it can handle having all nine of us.”

Travis nods and is quiet for a while. Finally, he says, “That sounds really nice. I’ve never lived in one place for a long time, before, and never with anyone else. It would be nice to have someone there for you constantly.”

William and Gabe share a look. “Yeah,” William says softly. “It’s nice.”

\---

William lies down on his stomach and closes his eyes. “We’ve been walking around the city all day. Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” he asks pitifully.

“Yeah,” Travis says, nodding. “Definitely. I can still smell the strange human’s scent. It’s getting stronger, too, which means that we’re definitely closer.”

William perks up at that, not even getting distracted when Gabe starts to wash his ears. “Really?” He asks, keeping still for Gabe. “You think we’re close?”

Travis nods again and watches them. “Yeah. We should be catching up with them, soon.”

“Are you—” William starts, but is cut off when the smell of a lot of dogs washes over him. “What?” he asks and turns his head.

There’s a man standing behind them in a blue uniform and there’s something in his hands. It’s like a metal pole, but there’s a bit of rope looped at the end. He looks surprised when William looks at him, but he keeps coming forward.

“Here kitty kitty kitties,” he croons, stepping forward. “It’s okay kitties, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just going to take you to a nice place that’s warm and has food and a lot of friends, okay? It’s dangerous to be out here on the streets alone, isn’t it?” He keeps coming closer.

Suddenly, Travis arches his back and hisses at the man, all of his fur standing on end. “Run!” he shouts at Gabe and William. “That’s a catcher!”

“What’s a catcher?” William asks, startled. He gets up and backs away from the man and Travis, who’s still hissing. Gabe presses close to his side.

“Someone who takes you to the pound,” Travis hisses, spitting at the man.

The man frowns and starts to lower his metal pole. “It’s okay kitty, I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeats softly but Travis isn’t buying it.

“Go!” he shouts again and William and Gabe take off. The man curses and moves to follow them, then stumbles and shouts. William turns back to look and sees Travis scratching at him.

“Down here!” Gabe says, running into a side alley and ducking under a dumpster. William has a second to stare at the dumpster in distaste before Gabe is biting the scruff of his neck and hauling him under. “Stay quiet,” Gabe whispers, pressing himself closer to William.

William nods and watches from under the dumpster. They’re not at an angle to see the entrance to the alley, but William can still hear. There doesn’t seem to be any commotion or shouting, so the man must not know where they are.

“Do you think Travis got caught?” William asks, turning to Gabe. Gabe has a grave face on.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I used to know a lot of cats who talked about what would happen if you were caught out on the streets without your tags on. You would get taken to these awful places where there were lots of animals, then if no one bought you, they’d make you sleep   
Forever.”

William swallows down a mewl. “I hope Travis got away...” he says, turning back to look out from under the dumpster.

“‘Course I did,” Travis says wearily, poking his head under the dumpster from the side.

“Travis!” William cries out, squirming from underneath the dumpster and moving over to Travis. He rubs the length of his body against Travis’ and starts to purr loudly. “You made it!”

Travis makes a rumbly purr in return and nods. “I’ve been outrunning catchers since I was a kitten,” he boasts, tail puffed out in pride.

Gabe comes out from beneath the dumpster and butts his head against Travis’. “I’m glad you didn’t get caught,” he says and Travis noses his cheek.

“Let’s keep going,” Travis says after a few minutes of Gabe and William grooming him. He’s still purring and his tail has perked up and continues to stay aloft as he walks to the entrance of the alley. “I can still smell the strange human,” he says.

“Alright,” William cheers, scurrying after him, Gabe hot on his heels.

\---

“I think this is it,” Travis says, sitting down in front of an apartment building complex. “This is where the scent goes into. He hasn’t stopped at all before here. So he probably took them in there.”

Gabe tilts his head and squints at the building. “Hey!” he exclaims. “This is where we used to live!”

“What?” William asks, staring at him. “You lived in the same building as someone who steals kittens?”

“I guess,” Gabe says, shrugging.

Travis lopes towards the building and they follow. “If we just stand closer to the door, we can go in as soon as someone comes out.”

They sit on the doorstep for what feels like forever to William, but is probably only half an hour or so before someone finally comes out. As soon as they’re out the door, Travis dashes in and William and Gabe follow.

Now that they’re in a smaller place, William can smell the strange man and the kittens as well. “They’re in here!” he shouts happily, purr starting up.

“Up the stairs,” Travis says, nodding towards the set of stairs in front of them. Gabe groans. “Man I hate stairs,” he says as they start to climb up.

At each level they get to, there’s an open doorway, but the strange man’s scent never goes through them. It just keeps going up and up. William wonders if this is the tallest building ever built, because the stairs don’t seem to have an end in sight, but finally Travis stops.

“He went through there,” he says, standing in front of an open doorway.

William nods and leads the way, nose high in the air. He can smell Siska’s scent all along the hallway, as well as Nate’s. “In there,” he says finally, standing outside a door near the end of the hallway.

“How do we get in?” Gabe asks, looking under the crack of the door. He doesn’t see anything so he sits back up. “It’s not like we can open it ourselves,” he says.

“I don’t know,” William says hesitantly. “In the movies, they always have some dashing way to come in and save the day, but none of the movies were ever set in an apartment building. I don’t really know what to do.”

Before they can do anything, the door opens. A guy with shaggy black hair stares down at them, a cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth. “Oh, it’s just cats,” he says after staring at them for a silent minute. “Just cats!” he calls back over his shoulder into the apartment.

“Tell them Butcher’s not here!” another voice yells out, one with a strange accent William’s only ever heard on the television.

“Butcher isn’t here,” the guy says, looking back down at the three of them.

William meows pitifully and the guy reaches down to pat him on the head, but he doesn’t smell like their kittens. He doesn’t smell like the strange man, either.

“Sorry, guys,” The guy says, then goes back into the apartment, shutting the door after himself.

“Oh, no,” William whispers, sitting down on the floor, head hanging. “It’s worse than we   
thought,” he says.

Travis tilts his head to the side. “Why do you say that?” he asks.

“He’s a butcher,” William cries out, hair standing on his back. “Butchers cut up animals and sell them for food! What if he’s going to cut up Siska and Nate and sell them for someone’s dinner?” William almost cries at the thought.

Gabe gets a strange look on his face. “I think I’ve heard that word somewhere, before...” he says to himself, eyes squinting in concentration.

“Of course you have!” William says, dismayed. “Butchers are everywhere in the movies! They always cut up people, but maybe they cut up kittens, too!”

“I guess,” Gabe says slowly, still looking a little troubled. 

“What do we do now?” William asks, turning to Gabe.

“I don’t know if there’s anything we can do,” Gabe says. “Maybe we should just go home and talk to Brendon. He’ll definitely know what to do.”

“I can take you back to where I picked you up, and you can find your way home, right?” Travis asks, heading back towards the open doorway which leads to the stairs.

“Yeah,” Gabe says, following after him. William brings up the rear, heart feeling heavy at the thought of just what was happening to his kittens.

\---

The walk back to the edge of the city doesn’t take nearly as long as the walk to the apartment buildings of the butcher. They don’t have to follow zig zagging scent trails or watch out for catchers or have to get food from anyone, because they’re just going straight through.

William feels sad because of two things, really. The first and most important is the kittens—he really thought this would be just like the movies. He and Gabe would burst into the lair of the bad guys and get the kittens back to save the day. But it hasn’t turned out like that at all.

Secondly, he knows that as soon as they get to the edge of the city, Travis is going to leave them. They’ve only known Travis for one day, but he feels like someone William has known all his life. He just fits in so well and William knows he’s going to sorely miss him.

As soon as they get to the edge of the city, Travis stops and starts to bathe his paw. “You’ll be alright from here, right?” he asks, sounding as aloof as he did that morning.

Gabe nods. “Yeah, we’ll be fine,” he says slowly.

“You should come with us,” William says suddenly. “Greta and Victoria both love cats and you said yourself that it would be nice to have a home and cats to be with you, right? So you should come with us and be a part of our home,” he explains earnestly.

Surprisingly, Gabe nods seriously. “You should. I think you would like living there. Plus, the city isn’t that far and you can always come back to visit, if you want. And you can meet Brendon and his kittens and Pete and Patrick. You’d like them, I think.”

Travis looks at both of them for a long time, paw still in the air from where he was cleaning it. Finally, he starts to purr loudly. “You think so?” he asks, moving closer to them.

William butts his head against Travis’. “Definitely.”

\---

Now that Travis is going to stay with them, William feels lighter. He’s still worried about the kittens, but at least he doesn’t have to say goodbye to Travis. Gabe keeps trying to convince him that Brendon and Ryan will be able to do something about it, and he hopes Gabe’s right. Besides, if Brendon and Ryan know, they’ll tell Miss Greta and Miss Victoria, and there’s no way that his two humans would ever let anything happen to William’s kittens. They would never allow it.

By the time they get home, it’s already dark outside and the moon is shining high in the sky. It’s a deceptively beautiful night. William scratches at the front door and starts to yowl, which Gabe echoes. The porch light comes on and the door opens quickly, spilling out the scent of his home and his humans and his housemates.

“Sebastian! Michelangelo! Where have you been! We’ve been worried so sick over you!” Greta 

William immediately starts to purr and rubs himself against Greta’s legs, making her scowl soften.

“Oh,” she says, reaching down to pick him up. She nuzzles his face. “I can never stay mad at you, Sebastian.” Gabe puffs his tail out and Greta laughs. “Or you, Michelangelo.”

Travis meows softly and Greta looks at him, eyes wide.

“Oh!” she says again, letting William jump from her arms. She crouches down and looks at Travis, giving him a hand to sniff. “Well aren’t you just a handsome fellow?” she asks, rubbing between his ears when he approves of her scent.

“What’s going on?” Victoria asks, standing in the doorframe behind Greta.

Greta looks over her shoulder at her and smiles softly. “It seems our runaway cats have brought us back a new friend. Look how well behaved he is,” she says, smoothing her hand down Travis’ back.

Victoria gives Travis a once over. “He’s a stray,” she says, but it doesn’t sound like an insult. It sounds more like a compliment and Travis preens, purring loudly up at her. “I guess it’s good timing he came today,” she says, turning back into the house.

Standing back up, Greta moves into the house as well, leaving the door open for all three of them to follow her in. “You’re right,” she says as she shuts the door. “Since the Butcher is here, he can talk to him; see if he’s alright with staying here with us.”

“The Butcher?” William cries, stopping in his tracks. “Did he come back to finish us off?” he asks, looking back at Gabe and Travis.

Gabe has that same look on his face from the apartments. “Butcher, butcher...” he says, then lights up. “The Butcher! I knew I recognized that name!” He bounds across the hallway and into the living room.

“What?” William asks, looking at Travis, completely confused. “What’s going on?” Travis shrugs. “I don’t know. Let’s go look and see.” He bumps into William as he walks towards the living room and William follows behind, curious and apprehensive all at once.

When they get into the living room, William cries out again. In the middle of the carpet, a man with colors splashed all over himself is sitting down cross legged, holding the kittens in his lap. Gabe is purring and rubbing himself against the man’s leg.

“Nate! Siska!” William cries out, rushing to the man and delicately grabbing onto Siska’s ruff with his teeth. He pulls him away despite Siska’s protests.

“But William,” Siska cries, squirming, “the Butcher is here to talk to everyone! I was sitting there first! I’m a big cat now!” He wiggles around in William’s mouth, but William refuses to release him.

Instead, he sits down and starts to lick the strange scent off of him. “Why on Earth were you with a butcher?” he asks between grooming.

Siska sounds exasperated when he says, “Not a Butcher. The Butcher,” he says.

“Hi,” Butcher says, leaning forward—now that Gabe has Nate and is giving him a similar bath— and holding out a hand for William. “I’m the Butcher. You must be William. I’ve heard so much about you.”

William stares at him distrustfully. “You speak cat?” he asks and Butcher nods, grinning.

“Yeah, man!” Gabe says, sounding ecstatic. “I hung out with him once, when Bden was still all fuzzy. It was pretty awesome. It’s just been so long that I forgot!” He nuzzles Nate’s head.

“I was just taking them to see the city,” the Butcher explains, running his hand over Travis’ back and making him purr. “They asked if they could and Greta and Victoria had no problem with it. Sorry I didn’t tell you before we left.”

Huffing, William continues to groom Siska.

“You sure do know some strange cats,” Travis says between introduction to all the other cats. Chris is batting at his tail curiously while Trais twitches it this way and that.

Butcher laughs and says, “I’m not a cat,” but Travis just shrugs.

William purrs a bit to himself, happy to have his family back together once again.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was taken off the [ Big God Damn Masterlist](https://fobfics.tumblr.com/post/34177428707/okubyokitsunes-big-goddamn-masterlistpdf/) you can use that link to download the pdf of almost 500 pages of bandom fic.


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